Different approaches to the concept of sustainability: A research on university students

In today's world, where globalization takes on full speed, the importance of creating an awareness and consciousness on sustainability increases every day. Sustainability, which can be seen in every field, and the phenomena of sustainable development are defined through interdisciplinarity. The behavioral changes by adopting and internalizing the basis of sustainability constitutes an important step in creating a sustainable society. The millennial youth, born especially after 1980, has many nicknames in terminology, will direct economy in the near future, will be active in decision making processes and will take on responsibility in creating a sustainable society. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how they define sustainability. Universities, which not only highly contribute to the personalities, world views and the values of students but also shape their manners and behaviors, have the potential and responsibility to circulate the knowledge of sustainability among them, as well as the society. In order to shape a sustainable future, it is undeniably important for the universities that follow the sustainability trend more and more, to focus on sustainability within campus practices, besides their educational and research duties. Taking these points of departure, this thesis aims to bring forth the university students' awareness, knowledge and approach towards sustainability. The method of research is, focus group discussion. The discussion has been carried out with students from five different universities, which are and are not yet among the 'UI GreenMetric World University Rankings'- it internationally evaluates and ranks universities through their works on sustainability. In this thesis, students' knowledge and awareness on sustainability, their approaches to the subjects of sustainable education, sustainable universities and the actions through sustainable life have been compared and contrasted. It has been found out that those who take courses on sustainability and whose universities have sustainability practices have relatively higher awareness, they personally research the subject and have the knowledge to define sustainability among keywords. Behaviors on sustainable life change within the context of personal values, besides the level of knowledge on the subject. Keywords: Sustainability, sustainable development, sustainable university, sustainable education, UI GreenMetric.